Dead Money Posted April 16, 2006 Share Posted April 16, 2006 Raub got me interested and trained me.....I'm on my 8th or 9th batch and can help you. Its not hard. I highly recommend Norther Brewers. Their kits are extremely easy to use. I just made my first non-kit beer (a Guinness Stout clone), but the kit beers are outstanding.Here's a link to their website: http://www.northernbrewer.com/ I followed Raub's advice and got this kit....its a little expensive, but basically its all you'll ever need unless you decide to do all-grain which is quite a bit more involved. Deluxe Starter Kit I'll be glad to walk you through the process as I'm sure Raub will be. I'm drinking a British Pale Ale right now that I made myself. And it is unbelievably good. Nothing like making your own..... John thats lookin pretty high tech. I think for now on we're gonna have to refer to you as "Uncle Jessie" (drinking an O'dools) One of these days, I will take the plunge and sip one of these home brews.The fact that I HATE beer should not deter me........right? :laugh: Blondie If you do Raub's and Johns are both excellent! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dfitzo53 Posted April 16, 2006 Share Posted April 16, 2006 What do you do about bottle caps? Does the capper come with them, or do you need to buy them separately? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Raub Posted April 16, 2006 Share Posted April 16, 2006 The kit will have a capper and enough caps to do 4-5 cases. Extra caps are pretty cheap. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CHUBAKAH Posted April 17, 2006 Share Posted April 17, 2006 Sounds like this will be my new hobby. Thanks for all the info guys! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
brewdogmike Posted April 17, 2006 Share Posted April 17, 2006 You can go broke buying accessories, but I'd recommend a couple of items: One is an attachment that goes onto your sink faucet to make it easy to clean out beer bottles. The other, if you want to spring for it, is a "wort chiller." Also, when I was brewing up a batch and had a particular party in mind (a football tailgate, for example) I'd bottle the beer into 2-liter soda bottles. Not elegant, but works just fine. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Soliloquy Posted April 17, 2006 Share Posted April 17, 2006 Encase ya'll decide to sack up. I came across this. Unlicensed distilling is illegal in the US, but Kiwis and Ozzies get to play. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tarhog Posted April 17, 2006 Share Posted April 17, 2006 I wouldn't mind having a wort chiller....right now, I brew in an old pressure cooker, seal the lid when I'm done with my boil, and cool in a ice water bath in the sink.....takes about 30 minutes...... I think eventually, I'll get a 2nd fridge so I can do lagers and store kegs too.... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Extreme Posted April 17, 2006 Share Posted April 17, 2006 **** beer. how do you homebrew vodka. i need to learn. stat. amen to that. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ChocolateCitySkin Posted April 17, 2006 Share Posted April 17, 2006 Unlicensed distilling is illegal in the US, but Kiwis and Ozzies get to play. According the interweb article (referring to Texas) its illegal to sell or provide to someone else in your own container. Making it is not illegal. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mr. S Posted April 23, 2006 Author Share Posted April 23, 2006 sorry, but bump, I figure to be cheap, Ill just buy the 62$ kit from northern brewer, and upgrade to glass eventually. Does anyone know if they sell beer brewing ingredients in Loudon/Fairfax County. The Dominion Brewery is around there. Also, they say you need "pry-off bottles", so that means not "twist-off" ones right? Was thinking id use bottles from buying cheap beer, but most of those have twist offs. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Extreme Posted April 23, 2006 Share Posted April 23, 2006 is it wrong to just take the fruit in the bottom of the fridge that has rotted for weeks, and suck the juice out? gets you effed up :laugh: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
smsmith40 Posted April 23, 2006 Share Posted April 23, 2006 Liberate yourself guys, throw away the kits. I tried about 10 kits overall and I never managed to produce anything I wanted to drink. I decided to go for broke and try one from the grain. Instantly lovely beer, you get to play with the recipe, be creative and I have only had one bad batch out of around 15 over the last couple of years. I go for bottling after a 2 stage ferment with the added sugar that Trahog recommends, eventually I'm going to try and go pro. Total cost of ingredients for a 5 (uk) gallon batch Grain £4 ($6) Hops £1 ($1.50) Yeast £2 ($3) Including the sundries like Irish Moss, steriliser, electricity etc I guess my per batch cost is around $11-12. Go for it guys! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tarhog Posted April 23, 2006 Share Posted April 23, 2006 sorry, but bump, I figure to be cheap, Ill just buy the 62$ kit from northern brewer, and upgrade to glass eventually. Does anyone know if they sell beer brewing ingredients in Loudon/Fairfax County. The Dominion Brewery is around there. Also, they say you need "pry-off bottles", so that means not "twist-off" ones right? Was thinking id use bottles from buying cheap beer, but most of those have twist offs. Most areas have 'homebrew' shops, I'll bet you can find some nearby (you might even call a brewery - they could probably tell you too). And yeah, you need longneck type bottles without threads if you're going to use a 'capper'. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tarhog Posted April 23, 2006 Share Posted April 23, 2006 Liberate yourself guys, throw away the kits.I tried about 10 kits overall and I never managed to produce anything I wanted to drink. I decided to go for broke and try one from the grain. Instantly lovely beer, you get to play with the recipe, be creative and I have only had one bad batch out of around 15 over the last couple of years. I go for bottling after a 2 stage ferment with the added sugar that Trahog recommends, eventually I'm going to try and go pro. Total cost of ingredients for a 5 (uk) gallon batch Grain £4 ($6) Hops £1 ($1.50) Yeast £2 ($3) Including the sundries like Irish Moss, steriliser, electricity etc I guess my per batch cost is around $11-12. Go for it guys! I don't think anyone would argue with you that all-grain is the way to go if you want to make the best beer possible, but you haven't tried the right kits if you've not been able to make good beer from one. Northern Brewer sells kits that include crushed specialty grains and hops (kind of in-between extract and all-grain levels) and they make very good beer. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
iheartskins Posted April 23, 2006 Share Posted April 23, 2006 Just wanted to say that this is a very informative and interesting thread. Linda bought me a Mister Beer for my birthday in August--I didn't realize its inferiority in light of all of these other brewing devices. I just wish I had more space in my apartment to pursue this as you guys make this sound pretty fun. And I can attest to the quality of Tar's homebrew--it's great beer. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
smsmith40 Posted April 23, 2006 Share Posted April 23, 2006 Tarhog, I've never seen kits over here at that kind of price level (£40-45). That is certainly nearly double the price of "premium" kits I have seen. I can only bow to your knowledge and certainly didn't mean to criticise your efforts. I only wanted to make the point that all grain brewing is much more accessible than people generally think, and in my experience much more fun. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tarhog Posted April 23, 2006 Share Posted April 23, 2006 Tarhog,I've never seen kits over here at that kind of price level (£40-45). That is certainly nearly double the price of "premium" kits I have seen. I can only bow to your knowledge and certainly didn't mean to criticise your efforts. I only wanted to make the point that all grain brewing is much more accessible than people generally think, and in my experience much more fun. My 'expertise' is not all that expert :laugh: I just wouldn't discourage someone new to homebrewing from trying a kit first, thats all. Its a good way to dip your feet in the hobby without getting overwhelmed, thats all. I'm moving into all-grain, so I'd agree with your primary point! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
smsmith40 Posted April 23, 2006 Share Posted April 23, 2006 Tarhog, Cool, let me know how you get on. I'm not setting myself up as any kind of expert but if you need to bounce some ideas around let me know. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ncsuapex Posted October 13, 2006 Share Posted October 13, 2006 bttt Since we had a semi-discussion about homebrew in the beer recipes thread I'll get this one going again. I third or fourth or whatever number it's up to now about northernbrewer.com. I've only ordered a hydrometer from them as I usually just go to my LHBS. The first one arrived broken and I called them, he said he would send a new one out and never asked me to return the old one, which I intended to do. I've been a member of their board for a year or so and have gotten really good advice. Those guys are real friendly and very helpful. I've only made hard apple cider and just started a 1 gallon wine batch as a experiment last week. I eventually want to get into the beer making but I don't have the resources right now(long story) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mr. S Posted October 13, 2006 Author Share Posted October 13, 2006 hmm, nice bump, haha. I found out of a store in Fairfax, apparently in Fair Lakes, Jay's Brew Shop or something. Apparently it is just a store the guy runs on the first floor of his townhome or something. Anyone been there? On that note, I haven't gotten into homebrewing yet, mainly cause I was studying for the LSAT until two weeks ago, and living at home, my parents aren't really for me doing that, they were against me drinking initially at home but I told them I only drink beer anyways. I hope to maybe do it next year if I moved out by then for law school (provided I get in somewhere). We should merge the beer recipes thread into this one. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tizzod Posted October 13, 2006 Share Posted October 13, 2006 hmm, nice bump, haha. I found out of a store in Fairfax, apparently in Fair Lakes, Jay's Brew Shop or something. Apparently it is just a store the guy runs on the first floor of his townhome or something. Anyone been there?On that note, I haven't gotten into homebrewing yet, mainly cause I was studying for the LSAT until two weeks ago, and living at home, my parents aren't really for me doing that, they were against me drinking initially at home but I told them I only drink beer anyways. I hope to maybe do it next year if I moved out by then for law school (provided I get in somewhere). We should merge the beer recipes thread into this one. I've been to Jay's. It's in the basement of his townhouse. It's a bit strange to walk into someone's house for brew gear. A little pricey too, but he works in a pinch. Check his website before you go, also. The hours are funky sometimes. jaysbrewing.com or something like that. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Soliloquy Posted October 14, 2006 Share Posted October 14, 2006 Oh, how I miss Brewtopia in Centreville. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tarhog Posted October 14, 2006 Share Posted October 14, 2006 The great thing about making beer is that, once you've got the principles and basic routines down, it doesn't matter where you get your ingredients from. And the better you get, the cheaper it gets... We have a local homebrew supply in my town, but I rarely go there except in a pinch. Just as easy to order grain/yeast online. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HighPlainsDrifter Posted April 21, 2007 Share Posted April 21, 2007 Bumpity bump!!! My wife got me a brew kit for valentines day and I love it! I just got finished cooking up my sixth batch about ten minutes ago. So far, it's been one of the most rewarding hobbies that I have started. Mr. S, did you ever give it a go?? What about you, Chewy? I've only used kits so far, but I do like to change them up occasionally. So far, I've brewed: a Newcastle clone, an India Pale Ale, an oatmeal stout, a Summer Ale, and a dark ale that I fooled around with quite a bit (I call it Roll in the Dirt, the bottles have labels with my dog doing just that). Today's batch is a Trappist Ale that I'll have to wait about four months to drink (most take around 4 weeks). It is going to be a VERY strong beer. I highly recommend brewing to any beer lover, it's easy, fun, and rewarding. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tarhog Posted April 21, 2007 Share Posted April 21, 2007 I'm bottling my Bourbon Barrel Porter tomorrow - a basic porter recipe with bourbon (Maker's Mark in my case), oak cubes, and fresh vanilla bean. I'm really looking forward to this one. It smells unbelievable. Also going to make an American Lager this weekend, should be ready for the heat of Summer. I love making beer Just curious HPD (great username btw...), what brand kits are you using? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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